The plans for a new nursing education center in place of a blighted apartment complex could face a rocky confirmation before Trenton City Council.

At the first step in the process, its introduction to the council Tuesday night, residents showed up in opposition to the proposed plan. At the same time, another string of residents spoke up in favor of the plan by Thomas Edison State College’s proposal to take over the abandoned Glen Cairn Arms Apartments complex. They would demolish the existing building at an estimated cost of $1.4 million and make one payment of $300,000 to the city instead of property taxes.

Thomas Edison State College President George Pruitt, in his presentation to the council, said the city could get rid of the “blighted, cancerous eyesore on our city,” if the city handed over the property to the college. The building will help accommodate a growing nursing program and student body. Pruitt said the college’s 20,000 students would likely grow close to 25,000 in five years.

“There is a great opportunity, a window has opened that gives us the chance to do something important for our city,” he said.

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Activists and bloggers in the city have criticized the process to reach the deal and parts of the proposed plan, including that the city would give up a potential source of property taxes in exchange for one payment. The proposal, first announced Friday, will face its first vote Thursday and a final one next week.

Dan Dodson, one city resident and blogger, said the city should hold off until it can get a better deal on the property.

“This is a sophisticated problem and I think right now we’ve heard a sophisticated presentation that pitches a lot of value that you don’t really know how that translates to the city of Trenton,” he said.

Donald Brokate, a real estate developer who owns property across from the proposed site, said he didn’t oppose the deal, but had reservations about the lost revenue from the proposed plan and others, such as the arena.

“The city is broke and we’ve done a very poor job of setting a long term goal of fixing our fiscal problems,” he said.

Edward Hill, the president of the Rutherford Heights Civic Association, said waiting for a nonexistent perfect developer would hurt the city more than taking the deal with the college.

“People act like we have 1,000 other people willing to develop this site,” he said. “We have a golden opportunity to get rid of an eyesore and people are questioning it?”

Pruitt said a variety of vacant or abandoned properties on West State Street could be turned around once the Glen Cairn Arms site was rebuilt.

Pruitt said no private developer would be interested in the site because of the built-in cost of renovating the condemned property. The building, which was condemned in 1997, needs asbestos abatement before it is demolished. Pruitt said they estimated the cost of demolition at $1.4 million.

“Before you can put a lemonade stand on it you have to put a $1.4 million investment to get it ready,” he said. “You’re not going to get a return on the investment as a private investor.”

J.R. Capasso, the interim director of Housing and Economic Development, said the city condemned the building in 1997 after decades of problems such as busted sewer pipes, faulty wiring and lapsed permits. The building was originally built in 1925 as a 100-unit high-end apartment complex.

He said the city had tried to bid out the project six times previously. He said the most recent three bids were low-income housing, a mixed-use property and a commercial development. All those proposals were rejected, he said, for various reasons, including that they required the city to fund the demolition.

“Historically, city staff had to deal with significant complications in the building,” he said.

Pruitt said the project, which has been in the works for years, now has a looming deadline. The new building, which will cost $16.7 million and take advantage of a state bond program that will be finalized by July, Pruitt said. He said the projects need to be “shovel-ready” to get the funding and the college wants to take advantage of that opportunity.

Diane Rodgers, the interim director of the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation, said her organization backed the plan and said the college could act as an “anchor institution” which could turn around the neighborhood. She said her organization would be able to reach out to developers for other properties near the Glen Cairn Arms site.

“This will begin to allow developers to take a look at the other end of the block of West State Street,” she said.

Pruitt also said, should the council turn down the plan, he would pursue other property within the city for the college in order to take advantage of the state bond program. That would then remove the property from the city’s tax rolls, rather than the Glen Cairn Arms site.

“This would be the biggest self-inflicted wound I’ve ever seen the city make,” he said.